Much will be determined about the mythical national title picture in high school wrestling over a period of just under 24 hours on the campus of the Wyoming Seminary Upper School in Kingston, Pa. Things will become very clear about who the No. 1 team in the country is after this weekend. Conversely, things could get very muddy, or it could be something in between. Over the course of Friday and Saturday, five rounds of dual meets involving eight matches will feature five of the top eight teams in the Fab 50 national high school team rankings.

All three matches on Friday will have a decided favorite and decided underdog. Perennial power Easton has seen some down times in recent years, but looks to be emerging in the right direction under second-year head coach Jamarr Billman. Despite returning just one state qualifier in sophomore Jonathan Miers (132), the Red Rovers placed third at the season-opening Cumberland Valley Kickoff Classic, fifth in the always tough Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic, and eighth at the Escape the Rock Tournament.

Miers won titles at both December tournaments before finishing runner-up at the Escape the Rock Tournament, losing 3-2 to nationally ranked Nick Raimo in the final. Junior Gaven Krazer (160) and senior Jonathan Pineda (285) have also placed in all three tournaments.

Even though St. Edward took No. 5 St. Paris Graham (Ohio) to the wire this past Saturday night, it would take many things going right for the Eagles if they were to upset the second-ranked Buccaneers on Friday. The lower-weight matches in this dual meet should be worth the watch.

Action really intensifies on Saturday with four Fab 50 teams competing in a quad meet against one another. The lone exception is that Montini Catholic and St. Edward will not wrestle one another, as they met in the championship match at The Clash XVI National Duals in Rochester, Minn. last month. Montini Catholic blew out St. Edward, winning twelve matches in a 47-9 dual meet victory.

It is abundantly clear looking at these four rosters the talent that will be colliding on the mats come Saturday. In addition, one can also see how No. 1 Bergen Catholic is susceptible to taking a loss. Of course, should the Crusaders come through these three duals with a sweep of wins, they would remain at the top of the rankings and do so with much aplomb.

On the other hand, should one of these three teams -- or for that matter more than one -- upend Bergen Catholic, then the national team rankings take a turn for the murky. Current No. 2 Blair Academy is in a very good position based on their dominant showings at the nation's best two tournaments in December, and could further their case with a decisive victory over St. Edward on Friday; if they earn said victory, they would now have four dual meet wins over top ten teams to counter-act the loss to Bergen Catholic.

On the other hand, if one of these teams was to beat Bergen Catholic, they would obviously have their own shout at the No. 1 ranking. Depending on the nature of the loss(es), Bergen Catholic might have a shout of their own based on beating Blair Academy decisively (9-5 in terms of matches), along with an excellent runner-up finish at the Beast of the East and then winning a very robust Doc Buchanan Invitational. Wyoming Seminary and Montini Catholic have their deficiency with the relative finish at the Ironman, also Wyoming Seminary losing 9-5 in terms of match count to Blair last week; however, the Blue Knights dominated their way through the Powerade, while the Broncos dominated their way through the Clash National Duals (four wins over Fab 50

Most of the upper tier teams in the rankings have rather strong schedules (excluding Graham), especially when you consider the aspects of controlability (i.e. state association rules, season start date, location).